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Rating Super Bowl XLVI Car Commercials

February 5, 2012

An image from the Chevrolet "End of the World" Super Bowl ad. Photo by Chevrolet

As has been the case in years past, the car and truck industry's very-expensive TV commercials targeting the Super Bowl audience leaned heavily on humor. Though no monkeys were engaged in the automotive cinema, you could spot cheetahs, sled dogs, vampires and even postapocalyptic snack foods.

Three other “H” words, besides humor, came into the field of play: heartstrings, heritage and, well, help.

While humor was employed most frequently, with moderate results, two real questions emerged at the end of the day. First, are these extraordinarily good brand-building exercises? Second, will all of these expensive TV commercial ad units sell more cars? Not likely.

Humor

Acura NSX: Jerry Seinfeld and Jay Leno pitch this new supercar--or do they? If Americans didn't know that Acura was reprising its six-figure sports car, and building it on these shores in Marysville, Ohio, they still don't. What they do know is that two once-entertaining, 20th-century cultural icons are in a skit about something.

Hey, Mom and Pop Midwest, let me ask you: Did you know that Seinfeld and Leno are car collectors? Why should we think that these entertainers entertain themselves with one-upmanship in being the first to own a car? We should not. My son, who knows his cars, wanted more info on the NSX. He did not learn it from the TV. Play = fumble.

Audi: If this increasingly successful distributor of German cars aims to put a stake in the heart of vampire television shows--gag me with a silver chain--then it did that with humor. Honestly, that is the first time any car company has used the power of headlamps to sell cars. That commercial was for Audi, right, and not a crossover advertisement with General Electric bulbs--like the one GE turbines did with Budweiser? Play = sack.

Hyundai Genesis turbo as a first-responder defibrillator. Look out, James Bond! Of the five ad spots Hyundai bought in the pregame/game, this was the best use of its money. It was funny. Will it sell more cars? No. Will it make stop-start jolts more prevalent? Perhaps. Play = field goal!

Greatest yardage on one play: Chevrolet truck. Was it Carmaggeddon? Carpocalypse? The end of the world as we know it according to the Mayan calendar takes place this December, claiming all except for three dudes in their Chevy trucks--and a box of Twinkies. Hey, where's Dave? To quote Cheech and Chong, "Dave's not here!" He's in a Ford, and he didn't make it through the end of the world. A nicely played poke of fun between two titans of the truck world; it's about time people didn't take themselves too seriously. It's also good to see General Motors playing offense for the first time in a long time. Play = touchdown!

Memorable play: Chevrolet Camaro convertible graduation present. This spot was created by a 21-year-old and submitted in a contest. It won a major award: It got aired during the Super Bowl. If the kid is not working for an ad agency immediately, then something is not right in this world. Play = long kick return.

Fiat 500 Abarth: If the dealers don't see a ballooning order bank from geeky desk jockeys this week, that would be surprising. I still don't know what a lissome Italian stunner was doing standing in the street bent over, but who cares? And what about those shoes of hers? Attached to all those legs of hers? Wow. Oh, wait! That was the car. I'll take mine in black. Play = flea-flicker for big yardage.

Honda CR-V: If Honda is trying to sell its tiny CR-V crossover to 50-something males who not only remember Matthew Broderick as Ferris Bueller but who also yearned to emulate him, the company might have something here. I just don't think that's the target market. Play = sacked.

Heartstrings

Toyota Camry: There is a Jekyll and Hyde thing going on here as Toyota used heartstrings in one execution and humor in another. Unfortunately, the effort to engender love with this admitted automotive appliance was filled with clichés and platitudes, and it didn't work. And when Camry is trying reinvent itself, its payoff line is a baby that doesn't poo, and is also a time machine. Really? Time to reinvent the ad. Play = fumble, recovered and fumbled again.

Heritage

Volkswagen: This ad could have been put in the humor category, but because it plays off last year's very successful and charming Darth Vader kid ad, we will slot it in as a heritage/extended play/carrying it forward or reprising ad. It was cute. The payoff came in the end at the Star Wars bar scene. But did you know that this ad was for a VW Beetle? Was it a turbo or . . .? See, you can't remember, and you're a car guy. The agency might win a few awards with this one, but is that the goal? Play = rush for a first down.

Following last year's successful and revolutionary two-minute commercial reintroducing the world to Detroit, its steel-hearted tenacity and the Chrysler 200--oh, and one of the most memorable lines to come from a Super Bowl commercial, "Imported From Detroit," the Chrysler people had to do something memorable. (Or they could have chosen to do nothing at all.) What they did was to engage Clint Eastwood, the personification of hard-nosed grit, a man whose voice just says, “Bring it on,” in Chrysler's new two-minute epic. It was good to reignite that theme of "America is back" to this realm. Will we get swept up in the American and Detroit pride again? Good question, but this was transformational television at its finest--and you could tell that the executives were truly part of the process and did not just tell the agency to get it done. The real challenge will come next year and to not do it for Super Bowl 47. Play = touchdown and two-point conversion and recover the kickoff deep in opponent's territory.

Kia Optima: Fantasy spot. Put us to sleep. Play = kneel-down at end of first half to run out the clock.

Cadillac ATS: Driving the Nürburgring's Green Hell. The whole commercial was a payoff to deliver a punch line. Yawn. It's an OK ad that we will see during breaks of PGA tour programs and baseball games, but it wasn't a Super Bowl-worthy spot alone. Play = off-tackle rush for a yard or two.

Dutch Mandel
- Dutch Mandel, Autoweek’s editorial director and associate publisher, has been with the company for 29 years. A second-generation car journo, he grew up with exotic cars in the garage. Among his many feats is a chef for a racing team and automotive consultant on the Pixar movie CARS and CARS 2.
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